Around 60% of Germans are dissatisfied with the actions of Berlin Mayor Kai Wegner and the state authorities during the power outage that occurred in early January, and another 40% want Wegner to resign. This is shown by a survey conducted by the INSA sociological institute for the newspaper Bild.
According to the survey, 59% of respondents negatively assessed the actions of local authorities in dealing with the consequences of the power outage. However, only 21% of respondents gave a positive assessment of the work of local authorities. At the same time, 18% said they did not know how to assess the measures taken.
In addition, sociologists found that 41% of Germans believe that the ruling mayor of Berlin should resign, while 37% are against it. Another 19% have no opinion. Wegner has previously been criticized for playing tennis during a power outage in Berlin.
The survey was conducted from January 8 to 9. 1,005 people participated in it.
Around 50,000 households and 2,000 businesses in Berlin were left without electricity on January 3 due to a fire on a cable-stayed bridge. Police did not rule out arson, which was later confirmed. The left-wing anarchist group “Vulcan“, which has been active in Berlin and Brandenburg for 14 years under various names, claimed responsibility for the attack. In a letter sent to the police, the left-wing radicals declared their desire to “cut off the power supply to those in power“ and openly called for further acts of sabotage of energy facilities, claiming that the arson was directed against the “imperial way of life“.
The power supply in some areas of Berlin, which was cut off by the arson of a cable-stayed bridge, was restored five days later. The situation is now stable. In total, around 100,000 people were affected in the southwest of the city. Berlin authorities had previously declared a state of emergency, and the investigation into the sabotage was taken over by the Federal Prosecutor's Office in Karlsruhe, which deals with particularly serious crimes that pose a threat to state security.